


hello there, the angel from my nightmare

by c_libretto



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band), One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fratboy!Niall, M/M, both of those tags need to be a thing, fratboy!calum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-11
Updated: 2013-08-18
Packaged: 2017-12-23 02:35:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/920985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/c_libretto/pseuds/c_libretto
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The thing about Calum is, Luke notices, is that he's something like a supernova against the blur of the people in the background, standing out with his big smile and his even bigger presence. Niall's a lot like that, too - the two of them occupy a space and make the room seem larger with just them standing and talking and being their shameless, impulsive, even sometimes borderline crude selves. They laugh aloud, possibly aware of their power over the entire room, their ability to make all eyes snap into their direction with just one word uttered.</p><p>It soon occurs to Luke why Ashton had said that Calum was "a little bit out of his league".</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. the way he moves is like a full-on rainstorm

**Author's Note:**

> another uni au. so basically it's luke meeting fratboy!calum. god i love the idea of fratboy!calum so much. (and him and fratboy!niall equal to life okay, they are officially my new brotp besides zouis). 
> 
> title taken from that one blink 182 song they covered bc you know, why the heck not.
> 
> leave me prompts in my askbox on tumblr (bassandbeanies)! i don't write exclusively for cake (calum/luke, not the dessert).
> 
> need i tell you that this is also in celebration of calum's new tattoo? ;)

There's a knock on Luke's poster-covered door and he slips the headphones off his ears, hearing a familiar voice call out his name in an insanely annoying sing-song voice. He straightens up from his slumped posture on his chair and gets up, the loud sound of the music still faintly playing away from the headphones he leaves on the table. The door opens to reveal a grinning Ashton, all up and dressed like he's going somewhere.  
  
"Hello," Ashton elbows his way in and flings himself onto Luke's bed. "Whatcha doing?"  
  
Luke eyes him suspiciously. "Nothing much? Just listening to some tunes." He goes over to the chair he was sitting in and plops onto it, wondering what Ashton could possibly want from him in the middle of the night like this. Overall, it had been a calm night - he had been content to lay back and listen to Blink 182 on repeat and get a good night's sleep before heading off to an exam the next morning, which he had been so determined to score at ever since the beginning of the term. His grade for the year depends heavily on this particular test, and if he doesn't manage to perform, he might as well crawl under his covers and kiss his bright future as a sound engineer away forever. But then here's Ashton, with that cheeky dimpled smile of his, and Luke's certain he's here to disrupt that plan somehow.

"Ah. So you're free, then?" Ashton asks, raising his eyebrows.

"I was planning to doze off soon, actually."  
  
"Why so early?!" Ashton's tone is incredulous, as though the prospect of sleeping slightly earlier than midnight is anything but possible.  
  
"I have a test tomorrow."  
  
"Aw shit. I was thinking of bringing you out to this party..."  
  
"Hell no," Luke interrupts. "I am _not_ getting wasted on the night before an important test." He goes over to switch the music off of his iPod. The faint hum of 'I Miss You' stops abruptly.  
  
"You don't _have_ to get wasted!" Ashton protests, looking somewhat offended. "I just want you to... um, be my plus-one, or something like that. You look like you need a bit of loosening up, too."  
  
Luke huffs. "It's about that Harry kid, isn't it?" _Styles? What kind of name is that anyway?_ Luke feels the need to question out loud. Harry Styles had a racy reputation about him in their university, but Luke's hardly convinced that he's actually slept with twelve girls in one night before. From the occasions that he has seen the older boy, he seemed pretty cool and laid-back rather than bad boy material.  
  
"Well, yeah," Ashton looks sheepish, cheeks colouring, "See, he's good friends with Niall, who is good friends with Calum, who I am having an alliance with." He draws out the explanation quickly, then pauses to catch his breath. "It's all in the game plan, bro."  
  
"'Having an alliance with'?"  
  
"Oh, you know. Calum's helping. He's a little out of my league, but he's willing to."  
  
"Um, okay," Luke mumbles. "Sounds like a plan." He has heard of the name a couple of times, but he's never actually met this 'Calum' person.  
  
"You could help too, you know?" Ashton proposes, looking enlightened by a new idea conjured in his head, "Like, we could all try and be close to them so we're actually _in_ their circle of friends, then I get to ask Harry out and get that sexy piece of -"  
  
"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down, lover boy!" Luke exclaims, holding his hands up. "I'm not getting involved in this."  
  
Ashton's eyes widen, looking distraught. "Why not?"  
  
"First off, I'm not exactly the ideal person to hatch this plan with, considering that I'm not your typical socialite, and two, if going to this party is the first step towards getting with Harry, then I am definitely not getting involved because I. Have. An exam. Tomorrow. Morning." Luke emphasises on each word almost aggressively, just to get the message through Ashton's seemingly thick skull.  
  
"You don't have to get drunk! Just come with me, pleaaase?" Ashton is begging at this point, looking a little desperate. "You're the only one I know who would be there. I need you to help me not mess things up." And because he has a flair for the dramatics, he gets onto his knees in front of Luke.  
  
 _Oh god. Here we go._  
  
"You've been my best friend my whole life, Luke Hemmings. My beautiful, loyal, smart, a tad too nerdy, dependable best friend. Did I mention beautiful?" Ashton pauses and winks before turning back to begging mode. "Please just help me this once, Lukey-bear. You know a real friend would always help his friend in getting the d. I'll do anything. I promise."  
  
Luke frowns down at his best friend of fifteen years. "You'd do _anything_?"  
  
"Anything."  
  
"Right then," Luke nods. He has yet to think of what Ashton should do to repay him for this, but he gives in anyway. He wishes he isn't that much of a pushover. "I'll go. But promise me we'll leave before two."  
  
"Alrighty!" Ashton jumps to his feet and pulls him into a strangling hug. "Thanks, mate!"  
  
"Get off me, you cock," Luke pushes him away, sending him flopping onto the bed, laughing. As he turns to change into something more appropriate for a party than sweatpants and a holey t-shirt, he's praying that he won't regret this decision.  
  
 _All for Ashton's quest in getting Harry Styles' d_.  
  
  
*  
  
The thumping sounds of bass from inside of the house along the quiet street emanates a flurry of butterflies in the pit of Luke's stomach, and he can tell that Ashton is pretty nervous himself, too. They walk towards the white front door which is already smeared with something like brown liquid and Ashton reaches to ring the bell.  
  
 _4801_ , reads the number on the wall beside the door. Luke wonders whose party this is. It hadn't occurred to him to ask Ashton about it.  
  
The door swings open and a girl with a beer cup takes a look at them and laughs maniacally in their faces, before slamming it shut again.  
  
"Ash? Are you sure this is the right house?" Luke questions, turning to the curly-haired boy.  
  
Ashton checks his phone for the address, apparently forwarded by Michael much earlier that day. "Yup. 4801. Looks like I'll have to call -"  
  
The door opens and well, Ashton basically looks like he's about to get a heart attack, because who else would it be but the notorious Harry Styles, a black button-down hanging precariously on his slender frame, the mass of brown curls on his head styled to perfection.  
  
"Oh, Ashton, hey! Glad to see you, man. Michael said you were coming." Harry's mouth spreads into a grin, and he ushers Luke and a weak-kneed Ashton inside. "And you're his friend, I assume?" He turns to Luke.  
  
"Yeah," Luke smiles back. "I'm Luke." He's taking Harry remembering Ashton's name as a good sign that his best mate would be in safe hands without him later tonight. That is, if he succeeds in actually getting the d.  
  
"We thought we were at the wrong house," Ashton starts off conversationally, recovering from his initial shock. "This girl opened the door and slammed it in our faces."  
  
"That would be Shauna. I apologise on her behalf, then," Harry chuckles, as the three of them wade through a sea of people of all sorts - from your intimidated-looking freshmen taking slow sips of beer to hardcore drunks waving their limbs to the music pounding through the hallways.  
  
"This is your house, then?" Ashton asks, automatically taking the main role of the socialiser, which Luke doesn't mind too much. He's more than content to listen in and observe instead.  
  
"Nah. A friend of mine's. Louis? Have you met him?" Harry is leading them to the refreshment table, where a dozen of cups filled to the brim with beer is situated. "Just to be clear though - he's not my boyfriend. I'm single."  
  
Ashton, who was taking a gulp of his beer from one of the cups on the table, almost chokes at Harry's blatant comment. Luke nudges him warningly to keep him in control.  
  
"Ah yeah," Ashton nods hastily, "I've talked to him a couple of times. I think we share the same classes, too."

"Oh yeah, didn't you work one of the assignments earlier this year together? I recall Louis telling me about that."

"Yeah. He's a cool guy," Ashton smiles, and Luke can tell that he's not sensing his presence there anymore.  
  
"Cool." Harry's green eyes are intently studying Ashton's very own brown ones.  
  
Luke takes it as the signal for him to step away. "I'll... have a look around, yeah?" he excuses himself, and the two of them nod, getting into a conversation too soft to be heard over the loud music.  
  
Looking around is exactly what Luke ends up doing, walking around sort of aimlessly and watching people lose their minds to the alcohol getting to their heads, until he reaches a room at the end of the main corridor where a bunch of boys are playing beer pong. The cheers erupting from the room makes Luke peek curiously inside, and much to his relief, sees a very amused Michael leaning against the wall, watching the others play their game.  
  
He walks over and Michael, upon seeing him, greets him with a half-smile. "Hey, Lukey."  
  
"Hi. I think my work here is done?" Luke says uncertainly, "Ashton is getting it on with Harry tonight for sure."  
  
"Good for him," Michael laughs. "C'mon. Stand here with me. You don't need to leave yet."  
  
The two of them watch the group of guys crowded around the table, the center of attraction on a blonde guy who is aiming carefully at his opponent's cups, one eye closed and the tip of his tongue sticking out at the corner of his mouth in concentration. The suspense in the air is thick as he throws the two balls he's been given, which both land into the cup in the middle of the triangular form on the table, thus earning him loud claps and cheers for his victory. He does a lap around the room, football player style, and fist pumps in celebration.  
  
"That's Niall," Michael says to Luke, "He's Harry's best mate."  
  
Niall is saying something in a loud, obnoxiously drunken way, his words slurred in a thick Irish accent. His cheeks are tinged red and he is now shoulder-to-shoulder with a dark-haired boy, spitting out words to the rap song playing in the background as if they're doing an impromptu performance. The two of them could be twins - dressed identically in tank tops and snapbacks put on backwards - except for the fact that they are physically vastly different.  
  
"Who's that?" Luke gestures to the boy next to Niall, who looks equally as intoxicated. Despite looking so, Luke thinks he's pretty good-looking, arms muscular and tan, dark brown eyes sparkling in the midst of all the excitement.  
  
"Calum. He and Niall are like the epitome of all frat boys on this campus," Michael replies, taking a sip of the beer he has in his hand. "Always having fun, the two of 'em. Harry isn't as... wild."  
  
"Oh." Luke hears Ashton's voice in his head, saying, "... _Calum, who I am having an alliance with_..."  
  
"How exactly is he helping with Ashton's mission to get Harry?" Luke quizzes.  
  
Michael shrugs. "Dunno."  
  
Niall appears to have spotted Michael, maybe for the first time that night, and drags Calum along towards them, blue eyes dancing with ecstasy. "Hey, Mikey!" he holds out a fist and Michael uses his own to bump it with his.  
  
"Niall, Calum - this is Luke. Ashton's friend."  
  
"Ohh Ashton... He's the one Harry can't shut up about!" Niall says. He claps Luke's shoulder, looking slightly up at him even though he's actually at least a year older. "Hey there, Luke."  
  
"Hi," Luke answers shortly, smiling. "Good to know that Ashton's feelings are mutual." He attempts to joke.  
  
"Sure is," Niall nods, "Gotta thank Michael for inviting him. And you, of course."  
  
"Hey, I think I deserve some recognition for introducing them first, though, right?" Calum speaks up, looking directly at Luke as he says so. Luke breaks the eye contact, feeling his cheeks grow warm.

Calum is definitely what Luke would consider "doable", if he'd ever actually intended on "doing" anyone. He looks like the exemplary of a frat boy alright, but there's also an edge to him that screams 'bad boy', and Luke would be lying if he says he isn't into that kind of look on boys. His tank top does little to cover up his muscular physique and the slightly sweaty skin just below his collarbone is marked with a tattoo, _MMXII_.

Luke, in his clean Green Day t-shirt and blue jeans, feels inadequate next to him.  
  
"But of course," Niall says sarcastically, and shoves him aside. "You started all of it, and I was the one who had to put up with Harry going on and on about Ashton for weeks before tonight. It was crazy." He shakes his head. "I bet you had to go through the same thing, too, eh, Luke?"  
  
"Exactly," Luke agrees.  
  
"Hood! It's your turn, bastard," one of the guys from the table call out, but Calum just shrugs in reply. He's stealing glances at Luke an awful lot, which Luke finds to be a little strange. He has a bold look on him when he's staring into Luke's blue eyes, and it honestly intimidates him a little bit.  
  
"I'm bored. Let's do something else," Calum says and Luke's barely had the time to ask "do what?" before Calum takes him by the arm, pulling him out of the room with Niall and Michael in tow.  
  
They go through the rest of the house pointlessly, Niall and Calum saying hellos to anyone who knows them (which is, quite literally, _everyone_ ) and Luke's a little overwhelmed with the prospect of having Calum's skin on his skin the entire time.  
  
The thing about Calum is, Luke notices, is that he's something like a supernova against the blur of the people in the background, standing out with his big smile and his even bigger presence. Niall's a lot like that, too - the two of them occupy a space and make the room seem larger with just them standing and talking and being their shameless, impulsive, even sometimes borderline crude selves. They laugh aloud, possibly aware of their power over the entire room, their ability to make all eyes snap into their direction with just one word uttered.  
  
It soon occurs to Luke why Ashton had said that Calum was "a little bit out of his league".  
  
With Luke attached to his hand, it's everything different than Luke has ever known. He's always blended in the background, unseen, somewhat invisible, but with Calum by his side, everyone is seeing him, as if it is for the first time. And while he's not altogether comfortable with the unusual amount of attention on him, it's a nice change from the usual anonymity he'd gotten used to over the years.  
  
Luke wonders if Ashton would be able to feel that with Harry.  
  
Calum gives him a smile at one point, cheeky and teasing, asking, "You alright, Luke?"  
  
And Luke nods in response, uttering in his head, _maybe this could be us_.  
  
  
*  
  
Out of all activities that could be done at a party, Niall and Calum later choose spin-the-bottle.  
  
Luke's weirdly anxious about it, even though he's bent on staying out of the game just to watch instead. He supposes he can't expect a low-key activity like a read-aloud session, book club style, to occur at parties like these, so he might as well just get comfortable sitting and watching the wild fun unravel in front in his eyes.  
  
They round up anyone who's willing to join, but Ashton and Harry are still nowhere in sight.  
  
"Attention!" Niall bangs on a table to quiet down the excited buzz among the horde of hormonal boys and girl in the room. "We'll start by forming a circle around" - he grabs an empty, discarded bottle lying horizontically on the table - "this bottle right here." He places the bottle right in the middle of the room and everyone starts to form an oddly-shaped circle around it, Luke excluded.  
  
"Luke! What're you doin' outside of the circle?" Niall calls out, settling in between Calum and a red-haired girl.  
  
"I'm... sitting it out?" Luke replies awkwardly, everyone's eyes upon him.  
  
"Oh no, you aren't," Niall chuckles, "Make way for him, Michael."  
  
Michael shifts over to offer Luke a vacant space next to him. Luke takes another moment to hesitate.  
  
"Luke. We're not starting the game without you."  
  
Now it all comes down to his own luck and whether or not he gets to sit out simply by not getting picked to kiss anyone or be kissed by anyone. Luke occupies the space next to Michael and the anxiousness he feels starts shooting up to an all-time high.  
  
The game starts off with the host of the game himself, Niall, who ends up snogging a girl a few spots away from Luke. The kiss looks over-enthusiastic, particularly on the girl's behalf, and Niall pulls away almost gagging, which earns a few laughs from the others. The girl looks more ashamed than anything else.  
  
"Everyone knows the only person you really want to snog is Zayn Malik," she snaps as everyone breaks into laughter at the nauseated look on Niall's face.  
  
"And that's supposed to make me feel bad?" Niall shoots back, looking nonchalant. "Thing is, everyone also knows that he's the prettiest boy on this campus and is totally snog-worthy."  
  
The girl humphs in response and goes back to her spot with a scowl on her face.  
  
"Alright, Cal, you're up," Niall gives his friend a wink and gives him a light push forward.  
  
Luke notices Calum giving him a long look before taking a spin at the bottle. He swallows. The bottle stops spinning gradually, finally stopping and pointing... in Luke's direction.  
  
"Here goes." Calum waddles on his knees toward Luke, and Luke feels his heartbeat going a thousand miles a second as he approaches.  
  
"Touchdown," he mumbles, just inches away from Luke's face, and so he kisses him.  
  
 _Holy fuck_. Their lips collide a little clumsily, Calum's tongue slipping right into Luke's mouth, making him taste alcohol and something like mint, and Luke's thinking, _more more more_ because the high is getting to his head and it's like he's blasted off into an entirely different world already. Luke feels a hand tugging on his t-shirt and sighs euphorically into the kiss.  
  
They pull apart just a few seconds later, conscious of everyone else watching. Cat calls and wolf whistles ring through the formerly tense atmosphere between the two of them and Calum sort of laughs at the attention they're getting, whilst Luke is busy trying not to look too embarrassed.  
  
"You're good," Calum whispers, a grin on his face, before going back to his original place next to Niall, who immediately gives him a clap on the back.  
  
The game goes on but Luke's in too much of a daze to pay attention to what happens afterwards. The kiss replays again and again in his head like a broken record, and Luke's certain he's starting to fall in love with Calum Hood at least a little, if he's not in too deep already.  
  
What pulls him back to Earth, though, is a single glance to the watch around his wrist, stating that it's already 3 a.m.  
  
"Fuck," Luke mutters and gets up to his feet. "I'll have to go now, guys, sorry." The rest of his sentence is consists of him mumbling something about his exam before he turns and walks out of the room hurriedly, determined to check up on Ashton before leaving to make sure he's okay.  
  
The sound of footsteps trailing just behind him makes him spin around, coming face-to-face with Calum. His face mirrors something like concern, a slight frown between his eyebrows. Luke doesn't know why he hadn't noticed just how brown his eyes are when they were close to kissing earlier.  
  
"Oh, hey. I'm just, gonna go and check up on Ash before leaving."  
  
Calum takes him by the arm like he did earlier, but with a gentler grip unfueled by the intensity of alcohol fogging his brain and leads him to a nearby closed door. He knocks on it. "Hey, you okay in there?"  
  
There is a gruff reply, "Fuck off, Cal!" which sounds exactly like Harry's voice.  
  
"Is Ashton in there?" Luke asks through the door.  
  
"Don't worry about me, just go on, you'll see me in the morning," Ashton's voice emerges from the behind the door.  
  
"Best to leave them to their fucking, I think," Calum says. They make their way to the front door, and Luke's wondering exactly why Calum is risking losing his turn to be kissed in the game just to accompany him to the door. "Why leave so soon?"  
  
"I have an exam tomorrow," Luke explains. He huffs out a laugh. "I didn't want to be here, actually. Ash just needed some moral support, I guess."  
  
"That's too bad, I was thinking you could probably stick around for a bit longer." Calum's tone is suggestive enough to make Luke's cheeks turn a brilliant shade of red. One of his eyebrows is raised, a cocky look that forces Luke to push the thoughts of his probable dominance in sexual activities out of his head. "I don't have class till noon, and I like you."

_I like you I like you I like you_ , echoes incessantly in the brief silence after, and he thinks he might have had his heart stop beating for just a millisecond.  
  
"Um yeah." Luke curses himself for the lack of words he's getting out as a response. He only then realises that he's the one who needs Ashton tonight, and not the other way round.  
  
"You could..." Calum pulls out a pen and takes Luke's arm, promptly scribbling something on his pale skin. "Call me?" There's a hint of hopefulness right at the end of the question, which Luke finds to be ridiculous, because _does this totally hot frat boy-type person_ really _want_ me _to call him??_  
  
Taking a look at the digits on his arm, Luke ends up blurting out something incomprehensible.  
  
Calum laughs, the sound almost like a punch to his gut. "What was that?"  
  
"Uh. I'll call you tomorrow after my exam then?" Luke repeats his intended message.  
  
"Sure, whenever you want, babe." Calum leans against the door frame, a genuine, slight smile playing on his lips.

It's the first smile Luke's seen him wear on, one that doesn't imply impishness or unholy intentions. He'd been dead sexy throughout the night, but this time he's beautiful. All his initial bravado had melted away to reveal a kinder-looking person, and for some reason it feels like a glimpse of a thing that could be part of Luke's future.

Luke decides that he'd give this newly discovered side a chance.  
  
 _And to call him tomorrow is the first step_ , Luke concludes as he walks down the street, feeling the dark-haired boy's eyes bore into his retreating back. He doesn't think he'll actually say this out loud, but he silently thanks Ashton for dragging him out earlier that night.


	2. and i can't remember life before his name

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *breathes sigh of relief* i'm actually so done with this fic omg, it's been on my back for a few days now and i'm finally done with it, which means it is no longer my problem anymore, haha. but i liked how this turned out, thank you so much to the person who wanted me to write another chapter, you literally saved my fic! thanks to everyone who left kudos/comments on the first part, i hope you like the continuation, because it really does sort of give the fic a more definite ending, which i felt was lacking in the first part. onward with the second part, now!

Luke comes out of the exam hall the very next day, thinking he did okay, but also with a strange feeling in his gut along with an alarm in his head, you're going to fail fail fail fail. He's in a slight state of panic, thinking back to all the answers he's written on his test paper and as he walks back to his room to clear his thoughts and just maybe try to achieve a state of Zen-like calmness, he remembers. 

The newly saved contact number from last night is waiting to be given a dial and his mind goes from _I fucked up the exam_ to _Shit shit shit I'm supposed to call Calum Hood what the hell do I do now?!_

It's quite obvious that he isn't going anywhere near to a state of relaxation today.

Rushing up the stairs, two at a time and a little later slamming the door behind him, he picks up his phone from his bedside table and scrolls through his contacts. Hemmings... Hood. Just the sight of the name and the ten numeric figures underneath it makes his palms sweat with anxiety. The moment of hesitation just before he taps on the screen to dial the number is far too long (it takes him pacing around the room about five times before pushing himself into actually doing it), but when he finally does lift the phone to his ear and start to hear the steady beep-beep sound of the line, his heart starts pounding fast. 

_Beep... beep..._ Luke settles down on his bed, bouncing his leg on his heel and biting his cuticle. 

"Hello?" The voice on the other line is a low rumble, as if he's just woken from sleep. Luke takes a glance at the clock on his wall and figures that it is a little too early for him to wake up, especially after probably staying up all night yesterday.

"Um, hi," Luke forces himself to sound bright, "It's Luke. Sorry if I woke you up."

"'S alright," Calum mumbles, "I was hoping to wake up before class, anyway. You're the perfect alarm clock."

Luke's thankful he's not actually there to witness his face turn an astonishing shade of scarlet. "Did you stay up yesterday?"

"Mm yeah, pretty much. Niall's having an awful hangover though, so chances are, he's not going to class today. How was your exam?"

"Alright? I think? I don't know, I'm just having post-exam stress, I guess. Over-thinking my answers and stuff."

"You sound like you need a reliever." There's a sound of movement in the background, something like the bed creaking, as though he's sitting up or rolling over on it. Luke tries not to picture him with a bedhead, bare chest still covered with sheets.

Luke laughs a little. "Yeah, sort of." 

"Meet me at Denny's then?" The invitation catches Luke off-guard, because the first thing that comes to mind is date? and his mind is reeling with the idea of actually making this a regular thing.

"Okay. I guess I could use a cup of coffee to keep the nerves down." Luke is on his feet again, pacing the room, excitement bubbling in his stomach. A silly grin is plastered on his face and he remembers to thank the heavens for not having Ashton in the room to tease him about his typical schoolgirl reaction towards this situation.

"Great. See you later, Luke." The end of the sentence, right at Luke's name, is hinted with the sound of a smile, and the call is cut with a final beep.

 

*

Walking toward Denny's, the only cafe on campus that the student body likes to crowd before, after or in between classes, Luke can't help but wonder what sort of sight would be awaiting when he arrives - he imagines Calum being surrounded by a couple of people Luke's seen but haven't actually spoken to, spotlight on him as he narrates about something cool he did the other week, the adoring audience listening intently, like so many people at the party last night. But when he actually gets into the warm place filled with all sorts of aroma ranging from rich coffee to sweet blueberry muffins, he finds Calum sitting by himself at a spot by the window, slightly frowning in concentration down at a notebook on his table, a pen between his long fingers.

"Hello," Luke greets, settling down on the seat opposite of Calum's. Calum looks up, looking mildly distracted, then replies with a "Hey."

The open pages of the notebook on the table is messy with scribbles and little figures that Luke can't make out. A lot of the pages are dog-eared, and the book looks like it has suffered a lot of wear and tear throughout the years.

"I had to keep myself occupied while I was waiting for you," Calum explains, "So, you know, I started writing." He puts the pen down by the pristine china plate on the table and flips the notebook shut. 

"You write?" Luke asks, eyebrows raised with surprise. "Like, poetry and stories and stuff like that?"

"Nah," Calum shakes his head, pulling at the hem of the beanie he dons on his mass of dark hair. "I'm a music major. I write songs, mostly." 

"That's pretty cool," Luke remarks. He knows a fair few things about music in general, but songwriting had never been one of his major fortes. Or at least, he thinks so. He's had a hand at attempting to write out a few things, but he's never actually succeeded in completing them.

"I would've gotten our drinks, but I don't know your order and besides, I figured they'd get cold by the time you got here."

"Tall, iced vanilla latte, whipped cream," Luke blurts out, then realises that he'd just subconsciously asked Calum to get the order for him. "I mean, I could wait in line, if you want me to."

Calum gives a glance to the queue in front of the counter, scrunching his nose a little, then laughs to demonstrate that he's only joking. "It's okay. My treat, anyway." He smiles and gets up, heading over to the line. He returns about ten minutes later, which seems like a very long time to Luke as he sits back and observes the rest of the people in the crowded place.

"Tall, iced vanilla latte, whipped cream?" Calum sets the two plastic cups on the table. He's looking a little unsure as he sits down and looks hopefully at Luke. "Did I get that right?"

"Yeah," Luke says, smiling as he stirs his drink with the black straw. "Thanks."

"I prefer hazelnut, myself," Calum says, taking a sip of his own brown concoction. "So. The exam. Have you stopped thinking about it?"

"You do realise that by mentioning it, you're actually reminding me of it, so now I'm thinking of it?"

"Oops. Well, okay. Let's talk about something else." Calum puts on what appears to be a thinking face, which Luke finds to be adorable because his lips are jutted out and he's squinting in deep search of topics to talk about. "What sort of music are you into?"

"Um," Luke pauses. He's into a lot of bands, but he decides to settle on mentioning a few of his favourites. "Blink 182, All Time Low, Green Day..."

"No shit?" Calum's now wide-eyed with wonder. "I love all of them too. Their stuff are sick. In fact, I'd say most of my songs are inspired by them."

"I'd love to listen to some of your songs," Luke says, taking another gulp of his drink. 

Calum suddenly looks a little sheepish. "I don't usually show them to people though? Niall's an exception though, because we write stuff together all the time, but otherwise..." He doesn't finish the end of his sentence, instead focusing on grinding some of the ice at the bottom of his cup with his straw.

This newfound glimpse of insecurity baffles Luke, really, because Calum's well-liked and known and he's probably really, really good too, so Luke doesn't exactly see a reason why he's not already at bars performing acoustic shows for everyone to see.

"It's alright if you don't want me to hear them," Luke adds quickly, not wanting to push Calum into doing anything he's uncomfortable with. "We could give it a little time. Or something."

Calum's eyes flicker up to meet his, half-smiling. "Give it a little time. I like that."

 

*

"A little birdy told me you got Calum Hood's number."

Luke groans. He looks up at Ashton with half-lidded eyes still clouded with sleep. He figures there's probably a long story involving who-said-what-to-whom so he doesn't bother asking.

"It's barely the crack of dawn and that's the first thing you bring up?" He buries his face back into his pillow and pulls the covers up to his bare shoulders, not having the intention to get out until at least late in the afternoon. His class today starts a little bit after two, so it's not like he's in a rush or anything.

"Honestly, stop being such a cranky-head in the morning." Luke feels the bed weigh down with a bit of a creak as Ashton settles himself next to him. "This is big, though, Hemmo. He's pretty fit... well, not as fit as Harry, but -"

"How was your night with him?" Luke cuts him short, voice muffled by his pillow.

"Alright, I guess? Like, we talked, mostly."

This statement makes Luke lift his head in surprise, looking properly awake for the first time that morning. "Talked? Come on, now."

"What?" Ashton looks completely innocent, as if he doesn't know what Luke is implying. "We talked. He's a brilliant conversationalist, you know." There's a little glint in his eye that indicates that he's stowing away the rest of the details from his best mate, and his hands are fiddling with the hem of Luke's blanket like it's a nervous tic.

"Don't lie, bastard," Luke sits up and hits Ashton on the shoulder. "What happened?"

"Fine, alright, we snogged for a bit, but I swear to god, Luke, we did mostly talk. He's intellectual and funny and a little dorky but ohgodhe'ssoadorablelukei'minlove." Ashton slumps against Luke's shoulder, making him teeter to the surface of the bed clumsily, sighing wistfully.

"Well, good for you." Luke's response is short, and it sounds like he doesn't care, because admittedly Ashton gets into one of these phases too quickly for his own good ever since he's found out that he's actually gayer than the fourth of July, and his proclamations of love usually end up disastrous, but deep inside, Luke is genuinely happy for his best mate. There's honestly nothing more adorable than the sight of lovesick Ashton, even if it does make Luke a little sick in the stomach.

Ashton straightens back up, a dopey smile still plastered across his face. "Well, how about you? Have you given Mister Fratboy a ring yet?"

"Yeah. We went out for coffee after my exam yesterday."

"And you didn't even tell me." Ashton has his arms crossed in exaggerated indignation. "I thought we were friends."

"I figured my love life isn't exactly your biggest concern. Anyway, it wasn't much. We just talked for a while before he went off to class."

"Details, Lucas, details," Ashton emphasises, as though they are two teenage girls sharing a bucket of popcorn at a sleepover, gossiping as they wait for their freshly painted nails to dry off.

"He's a music major," Luke starts off, "Writes songs, apparently, but he doesn't really show them to anyone but Niall."

"Writes songs. He sounds romantic, ooh." Every word is lilted with a teasing sound, and Ashton is grinning mischievously. 

"But it's like, I don't know, I don't get why he seems a little... insecure, about it? He was pretty confident and loud and open that other night and now, well, he's not shy or anything, but he's a bit more... reserved. Than I expected him to be. You know?"

"I reckon he was buzzed that night," Ashton says, "I don't know him that well, but that's the point of you dating him. To know him better."

"We're not dating."

"Whatever. The interesting thing about people, Luke, is that they're not one-dimensional. I know you're mostly a little too technical for your own good and you tend to see things as they are, but I think you might have made a slightly off judgment when it comes to Calum. He's probably a lot less frat boy than he leads on. Who knows? He might be even more similar to you than you think."

For the first time, Luke is just about rendered speechless at Ashton's unusually analytical thinking, because if anything, Ashton usually moves too fast even for the world to keep up with him. The thought of Calum being maybe more than the opposite of what he appears to be is strange to Luke, and the possibility of Calum being considered similar to Luke's introverted, perpetually anxious self is just insanely out of this world.

But then he considers Ashton's theory about multi-dimensional people, and he sort of almost gets it.

 

*  
Luke starts to reach the point of complete comprehension about Ashton's statement the first time Calum invites him over to the flat he shares with Niall.  


They walk through the front door and Luke is greeted with the sight of random articles of clothing and objects strewn everywhere - the very picture of a typical 'bachelor's pad'. The dining table is littered with papers and there are a good number of guitar bibles here and there amongst the pile of stationery on the scratched wooden surface of the table. A lone guitar leans against the wall next to the television, and everything looks like it's gone through a blizzard or a raging storm of some sort.

"Sorry about the mess, it happens when Niall's not around," Calum says, slipping off the backpack he has on beside the leg of the coffee table situated in the middle of the living room, in between the sofa and the television. "Make yourself at home. I'm going off for a quick change." With that, he disappears into one of the rooms while Luke sits on the sofa, blue eyes scanning the scene around.

Well, for one thing, Luke supposes, he and Calum are definitely similar in a sense that they're not all that organised. Luke loses his things - whether it be his car keys or his only working pen for the week - on the daily, and he can imagine that happening a lot with the mess that's scattered around here too.

He starts thinking about the past few weeks and he nearly feels a little giddy with this weird, tingly happiness he hasn't felt in quite sometime. 

After their meet at Denny's early that month (Has time really gone that fast? Luke wonders), they'd started to slip into a comfortable routine of exchanging countless text messages to each other every day, either one of them updating the other about what's going on with his day, and vice versa. It's casual, friendship-like, even, but there are times when Luke gets occasional peeks into little details of Calum's life and bursts of thoughts that only he can see, like they're just secrets kept between the two.

_Did you know that you could use a fork to poke through an oreo to keep your fingers from gettin wet by the milk??_ Calum texted once, in the middle of one of Luke's classes. _i'm fuckin mindblown!!!_

_Yeah it's a pretty common lifehack now tbh_ , Luke, stifling a smile, had to type out a reply under the desk, away from the eagle eyes of his lecturer, Mrs. Collins.

_and you never told me. :( my whole life is a lie._

On a particularly boring Saturday night with only reruns of _How I Met Your Mother_ to keep Luke company, Calum texted:

_Had a girl reject me because she knew about our kiss. should i feel insulted?_

Luke immediately started to blush, because this was the first time either one of them had mentioned the kiss ever since it'd actually happened.

_And here i thought you were gay..._

_I'd say i'm bi? idk??? when i like someone, i just do. don't worry though, i was only playing around with her. i wasn't being serious._

Which led to Luke thinking about how Calum is maybe saving himself for him, which consequently led to also thinking that they could actually make this a real thing one day. 

(Luke's not comfortable with the term "relationship", because how does one get into that, anyway? Are there any official gestures that have to be done to get into a relationship? How will a person know when he's actually in one? Luke's never been a master at the art of love and relationships, even if he has lived long to know just enough.)

The sounds of a door opening and closing snaps Luke out his thoughts, and he's met with a freshened-up Calum, hair still damp from the shower he'd apparently taken. 

"Sorry to keep you waiting. I took a quick shower." Calum is being completely redundant, of course, but Luke doesn't point it out. He goes over to the messy dining table and picks up a couple sheets of paper, then bringing over the guitar against the wall. Keeping a bit of a distance away from Luke to avoid from accidentally banging him with the instrument, he sits down on the sofa and lays down the papers on the glass table. 

"I've been writing this song, and I sort of wanted your opinion on it?" Calum says, strumming aimlessly on the metal strings with a pick as he looks at Luke with a very slight but certain amount of nervousness. "Is that okay?"

"Sure."

Then he starts strumming out the proper chords, and he's singing, and Luke's thinking _ohholymotherofgodthisissogoodwowwhat_ , instantaneously turning his brain into a pile of mush just listening to the gentle, heartfelt timbre of Calum's voice and the guitar humming along to his melody. The words of the song are, to say the very least, not something he'd expect a 'frat boy' to be capable of writing out. 

Calum stops abruptly, mid-chorus, and he's frowning down at the papers on the table.

"What?" Luke asks.

"Something doesn't really fit around here," Calum's bending forward and circling a part of the chorus with a pencil, looking dissatisfied. He scratches out a few words and starts replacing them with a few new ones. Then he sings them out loud, before shaking his head and scratching them out again, repeating the entire process. He's soon lost in his own thoughts, phrasing and rephrasing the lines of his verses, while Luke watches.

It is only then that Luke realises how quiet it is when Calum isn't talking, just the sounds of an occasional vehicle driving by and a stray dog's bark outside can be heard as he's watching him at work.

It all works out eventually, when Calum finally has something like a Eureka! moment as he quickly scribbles something down to replace one of the last lines of the song, a triumphant grin on his face. "Alright. Okay. I think it's better now." He starts playing the song again, and Luke's agreeing that _yeah, this is better, this is the best song I've ever heard_. Granted, his admiration for the song may have been largely affected by his own growing affections for Calum, but then he thinks even Ashton can agree that he's definitely good at what he does.

"So?" Calum immediately says when he's done. "What do you think?" The look on his face reminds Luke of a hopeful puppy awaiting a bone or a doggie treat.

"It's brilliant. Why are you not a performing artist yet?"

Calum looks humbled, an abashed smile on his lips, a total contrast to the smirking boy Luke had met at the party that had seemed years ago.

"You really think so?" he asks quietly.

"Yeah." Slight pause. "Can I kiss you again?" Luke surprises himself with those words slipping out of his mouth, sounding like a different person's because he's never usually one to say that kind of thing out loud. 

He has his eyes staring into the endless depths of Calum's brown ones, and then he's leaning in and they're kissing. This time it's a little more tentative, a little more careful, the movements of their lips slow and steady, almost even rhythmical. The guitar on Calum's lap gets in the way, though, so it's cut short, leaving Luke with the very same high he'd had when they'd done the same thing before.

"You didn't have to ask, you know?" 

"I was worried you didn't want to."

"You worry too much." 

There's that goofy grin again, and Luke smiles back.

"Funny. I'd say the same thing about you, too."

*

_Hangin out with niall michael and harry @ 8pm tonight. you down? bring ashton._

Luke and Ashton find themselves fussing over what to wear a little later after receiving the message, about an hour before setting out into the streets toward the diner they're supposed to meet at. 

"Do you think Harry will like this?" Ashton is gesturing down at the pony shirt he has on, standing in Luke's doorway without much thought about how Luke had only just hastily started to cover his naked self up with a towel.

"Yes, he'll think that it's funny and cute and whatever, now get out of my room!" Luke pushes Ashton out to the corridor and shuts the door, turning back to the pile of clothes he has on his bed, the pressure of looking appropriately dressed weighing down on him as he bites his lip and does a quick eenie-meenie-minie-mo, finally settling on a Blink 182 t-shirt (a little bit try hard, it seems, but he doesn't have much time to think about it any longer) and his usual pair of black jeans. 

"Is my hair okay?" Ashton is still fussing about as they walk down the stairs of their dormitory block, hand still arranging and rearranging the strands of curly hair on on his head.

"You look fine," Luke assures him, his own hand subconsciously running through his own blonde strands.

The diner is only a couple of blocks away from the uni campus, and soon they're going through the entrance, the bell above the glass door tinkling and alerting the staff of the presence of new customers.

In the midst of the somewhat crowded place, Luke spots Niall waving at them to get their attention, and nudges Ashton to follow him to the table a little further into the cramped space of the diner.

"Our lads are here!" Niall announces, as if the rest of the people at the table are unaware of seeing Luke and Ashton settle down into their seats next to Calum and Michael. Harry's sitting directly opposite of Ashton, and Luke starts praying that they won't be starting a game of footsie under the table any time soon.

"Nice shirt," Calum mutters, smiling, and Luke feels his hand brushing lightly against his as he moves closer to give Ashton more space.

An unidentified boy sits in between Harry and Niall, with dark hair and features that belong to the cover of magazines. He gives them a slight smile, and lifts his fingers off of the table as a greeting gesture.

"Luke, Ashton," Niall says, "This is Zayn. Zayn, Luke and Ashton."

"What's up?" Zayn asks, and Luke and Ashton respond with mumbled replies, because it's pretty much a rhetorical question.

"Niall here has just decided he'd bring Zayn along to alienate me," Michael says. His hair is a vibrant shade of purple today, a stark change compared to last week's electric blue.

"Alienate...?" Ashton is about to ask, when Harry explains, "The group was even-numbered until Zayn showed up."

"I am surrounded by lovebirds," Michael groans, banging his head lightly on the table. 

"Not my fault you're forever alone, Michael," Niall laughs.

"You're all lucky I'm not homophobic. Or else I'd think this is a really sad attempt at getting to sodomise me."

"Michael!" Harry chastises mockingly, "Don't say that in front of the children!"

The conversation continues on, a back-and-forth argument between Michael and Harry, with occasional cut-ins by Niall, who soon makes it clear that he's pretty much the happiest person at the table. Zayn and Ashton are listening, laughing at all the right places, while Calum... well, weirdly enough, he's not participating as much as Luke had thought he would. He's mostly going from listening in to turning and looking at Luke in this way that says, _I'm glad you're here_. Which, of course, succeeds in turning Luke's legs into jelly every time.

"What would you like to have for today?" a waitress interrupts them halfway through, and they're all shouting out orders like children at McDonald's, the waitress rushing to catch up with their fast words being hurtled her way. 

"Alright, alright, gotcha," the middle-aged woman nods and walks off, shaking her head in amusement.

Their orders arrive a good fifteen minutes later, platters of comfort food served in front of their very eyes and they dig in, Luke in particular not realising how hungry he really is until now. Harry and Ashton are feeding each other in attempts to irritate Michael even further, but Luke has a feeling they're enjoying their own show of display of affection even if everyone else is groaning for them to stop.

Zayn flat-out refuses to do the same thing with Niall, which results in Niall clumsily feeding Calum across the table instead, the two of them laughing and shaking the table too much for comfort. Calum's loud, obnoxious side is revealed again, and he's the center of attention along with Niall, overshadowing the rest of them. Luke's finding himself looking at a different person, and almost starts to miss the more reserved side of him, the one that he's more familiar with, but he doesn't get to because soon enough it quiets down and Calum's giving him the look again, one that signifies that he's just content with Luke being there with him no matter what. 

It ignites a surge of exhilaration running through Luke's body, the thought of being wanted like that.

"I need to go now," Michael gets up by the time it's 10:35 p.m, pushing his purple bangs out of his eyes, "Stay safe, all of you. Use condoms and all that shit."

"Yes, mummy," Calum and Niall chant together, each earning a shove at the back of the head as Michael makes his way to the exit.

"Actually I think I'll need to go, too?" Luke says hesitantly, looking at everyone around the table. "I've got some stuff I need to hand in tomorrow." He gives a little eye-roll to stress his point.

"Aww," Calum pouts, tugging at his arm, his obvious burst of confidence and shamelessness still in the higher scale, especially after the couple of drinks he's had, "Stay."

"No can do," Luke shrugs, looking down apologetically at him.

"Alright, Cal, get off of him," Niall says, laughing. "Go ahead, Luke. See you next time."

"Call me, text me, whatever?" Calum asks, and Luke nods, squeezing his way past Ashton, the chorus of goodbyes by the rest of them loud enough for everyone in the diner to hear.

Luke's out the door and is about to walk back all the way to his room when he hears the door swing open behind him, the faint sound of the bell tinkling as it does so.

"Hey, Luke?" he hears Niall call out from behind him, and he turns back, stuffing his hands in his pockets to keep out the cold. The temperature seemed to have dropped drastically since he last was outside.

"Yeah?" he asks, looking curiously at the sombre expression on Niall's face. It's an unusual look on the normally could-not-give-a-fuck-about-anything boy. 

Niall bites the inside of his cheek, then goes on to say, "Cal really likes you." Niall's voice is soft, but the atmosphere all around is quiet enough for Luke to hear what he's saying. A car zips by on the street. "Don't hurt him or anything, yeah?" His cheeks are tinted red because of the weather, but his earnest face is showing all signs of best wishes and hopes for his best friend.

Luke stands stock-still for a second, stunned by Niall's request, which hadn't been what he'd expected at all. 

"Like..." Niall trails off, hesitating for a split second, "It's one thing to catch his attention, Luke, like you have, but it's a completely different thing to get him talking about you non-stop for the past month and I know he's usually all fun and games and an idiot half of the time when we're all out doing stupid shit but I can tell that he really, really likes you. You have no idea how much you make him nervous and re-think everything he says or do, which is not something he usually does, by the way. He doesn't deserve to get hurt. No one does." He's looking at Luke with an amount of seriousness one usually associates with announcing the possibility of a terminal illness.

Luke nods, his eyes giving out the words he's not saying, I won't, I won't, I'll put myself through hell if I do.

Niall seems satisfied enough with that response. He nods curtly and goes back inside, shutting the door behind him.

 

*

The few months that pass after are a blur of figuring out where Luke stands with Calum when it comes to their relationship. 

(Luke decides that you just know it when it happens - when you're actually, as Facebook statuses would declare it, in a relationship. No grand gestures required.)

The way things are going about now, they're becoming more and more accustomed to each other and as they start knowing each other better and better, Luke falls a little bit more into the comfort zone he soon builds around the two of them.

And it's really not very much like Luke to be overly analytical about things, but he can't help but just notice when he's with Calum. 

Calum's his favourite thing to observe and draw conclusions from - from the way he lights up when he's around the people who are comfortable with him, ridiculousness and carefreeness all rolled up in one to the awkward, fidgety movements he makes just before they make the smallest physical contact. He's more than just the frat boy he is, and he's definitely maybe sometimes not as confident as he appears to everyone else.

The initial canvas-like view of perfection sculpted on the first night Luke meets him is now contorted with lines and smudges of flaws and quirks that only Luke has access to, which he finds a big privilege, because who really needs perfection anyway?

Calum isn't perfect, Luke sure as hell isn't perfect, but they fit together easily - easier than once expected - and the two of them, to put it in the simplest, clichest way, are indefinitely, but still most possibly, perfect for each other.


End file.
